paper books versus ebooks

[regstuff]

An interesting post I read recently
Coming, ebooks that feel, smell like real books
in.news.yahoo.com/coming-ebooks-feel-smell-real-books-093219313.html

[eschwartz]

[kyteflyer]

Funny this should come up, havent been in the forum much lately. Like the rest of you I am considering getting rid of my dead tree books. I love the smell, though, even the old musty dusty ones. I even went into a bookstore yesterday morning and took a good long sniff, to get that new book smell

However my reality is similar to some of you, I have multiple bookshelves full of paperbacks and books that belonged to parents: coffee table books, books on the war etc, and I am having trouble letting go. In a small (no, lets call it what it is - TINY) house where space is at a premium, I'm no longer sure I can allow books to take so much room. Especially since I almost never read them.

[PurpleStar]

I never understood the book smell thing. Whenever I smell one of my books, I nearly choke. It smells awful to me.

[Katsunami]

There. All packaged up. The only books I kept are Musashi, Taiko and Heiké (hardcover in English), a few hardcovers in Dutch (translations, out of print in English and Dutch), and a few books on chess. I also have a small bookcase with books on programming languages and software engineering, but they are for reference only.

Total: 107 books gone, 83 of which are omnibus editions with 3-6 books in them. (Omnibuses are real cost savers, so I liked them back then. Now, as ebooks, not so much.)

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

There. All packaged up. The only books I kept are Musashi, Taiko and Heiké (hardcover in English), a few hardcovers in Dutch (translations, out of print in English and Dutch), and a few books on chess. I also have a small bookcase with books on programming languages and software engineering, but they are for reference only.

Total: 107 books gone, 83 of which are omnibus editions with 3-6 books in them. (Omnibuses are real cost savers, so I liked them back then. Now, as ebooks, not so much.)

Congrats!

The best thing about ebooks - no boxes!

[supermighty]

Originally Posted by regstuff

An interesting post I read recently
Coming, ebooks that feel, smell like real books

I don't know about the smell, but it would be nice to have an eInk reader made out of wood instead of plastic. It would help capture the special-ness of older books.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by supermighty

I don't know about the smell, but it would be nice to have an eInk reader made out of wood instead of plastic. It would help capture the special-ness of older books.

Wouldn't leather be better?

[supermighty]

Why not both.

I thought of wood because Motorolla is making phones with wood back panels.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by supermighty

I don't know about the smell, but it would be nice to have an eInk reader made out of wood instead of plastic. It would help capture the special-ness of older books.

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Wouldn't leather be better?

Both - with brass accents, and maybe turning gears instead of buttons/switches...



(And cedar wood. Gotta use cedar.)

[Katsunami]

I'd rather like an integrated reader/cover-combination that looks like an actual (old) book when closed, with a screen instead of letters on the right-hand "page"

Think like cutting a hole in an old hardcover, and putting the reader in there, but nicer, integrated from the factory, with the electronics built into the "book".

Something like this:

http://www.padandquill.com/cases-for...aperwhite.html

It comes close, but makes the Kindle bigger. Imagine something like that, but with a screen as large as can be fitted into the right hand side, where the margin of the "page" acts as the margin of the device. (And, why the strap? There's more than enough room on the margin/page to place some magnets there to keep the case closed.)

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I'd rather like an integrated reader/cover-combination that looks like an actual (old) book when closed, with a screen instead of letters on the right-hand "page"

Think like cutting a hole in an old hardcover, and putting the reader in there, but nicer, integrated from the factory, with the electronics built into the "book".

Something like this:

http://www.padandquill.com/cases-for...aperwhite.html

It comes close, but makes the Kindle bigger. Imagine something like that, but with a screen as large as can be fitted into the right hand side, where the margin of the "page" acts as the margin of the device. (And, why the strap? There's more than enough room on the margin/page to place some magnets there to keep the case closed.)

And there's this for ipad mini (iphone and ipad, too)
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook_ipadmini/

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

And there's this for ipad mini (iphone and ipad, too)
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook_ipadmini/

Off-Topic...

Twelve South is here to create beautifully designed accessories exclusively for Apple computers. We know Mac users. We are Mac users. We feel it’s time to stop settling for PC accessories that are painted white and passed off as "Mac compatible." Our company is here to focus on Apple accessories exclusively.

I already don't like them.

From the Kiplinger Startup article:

Why just for Apple? “It was always our feeling that Apple users – like us – deserved thoughtfully designed accessories, worthy of the iconic products they accompany,” says Leigh Ann. “So we decided to devote Twelve South 100% to making Apple-only accessories.”

Now I *really* don't like them. It reads as if this company is built on pure zealotry.

But I know, it's still off-topic.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Both - with brass accents, and maybe turning gears instead of buttons/switches...

There's always a skin...

[Heim]

Books are lovely items, really. But they're also 'high maintenance' items. They require bookshelves, regular dusting, they're a burden when you have to move them. From that perspective I'd choose the ebook over the deadtreebook any day.
However, there are book stores. There's no other store like a bookstore. Heaven.